I’m sure by the time this blog entry is posted this GIF file will still be relevant to some BS happening in our world.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of June 8th through June 14th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
“I have found myself and my place. I know who I am.” Spock- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Stardate: 8454.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
June 10: “We must consider all options, Doctor, and not let our personal feelings impede our judgment.” Picard- Transfigurations, Stardate: 43957.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
June 11: “One voice can be stronger than a thousand voices. Your mind is independent now, with it’s own unique identity.” Janeway- The Gift, Stardate: 51008 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
June 12: “Mythology often has a basis in fact.” T’Pol- Chosen Realm, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
“Aren’t you beginning to feel time gaining on you? …It’s like a predator. It’s stalking you.” Dr. Soran- Star Trek Generations, Stardate: 48650.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
“I don’t care how many times you come back to haunt me. I’ll never let you win.” Shaxs “You can’t fight me, because I am you, Papa Bear.” Alt-Shaxs “No. You’re a freaky little monster that lives in my brain.” Shaxs- Upper Decks, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekLD #IDIC #Quote
June 14: “That’s all you men of other worlds can speak of, duty and responsibility.” Elaan- Elaan of Troyius, Stardate: 4372.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
So just a heads up, while there might be some negative things in this after-action report, none of them are due to the many volunteers at SaltCON. The many volunteers and coordinators at the event were beholden to the same issues that affected the con as a whole, and they did an excellent job under the circumstances.
Bottom line up front (BLUF): Attendance was down at this particular event due to the economy.
When I talked with several coordinators, they mentioned that they had seen the same pattern previously over the past seventeen years. When money gets tight, the attendance drops as people try to trim the budget. How this affected me and some of the other volunteer gamemasters is that some scheduled events didn’t “fire”. This is the metric that the convention uses to state that the game started on time with players. All three of my scheduled games did not “fire” which disappointed me. With the lower attendance, the players flocked to the games that had other attendees signed up so that they could get a full experience (kind of hard to play in a game with only 1-2 players). At first I wondered if I had picked the wrong games or time-slots, but I saw that other GMs had the same issues that I had. So while talking with the RPG coordinators, they encouraged me to continue to volunteer as they appreciated my efforts. So yes, I’ll be signing up to run some games at SaltCON-End of Summer in September. Hopefully the economy will not be as skitterish as it is now (crosses-fingers).
There, now that the elephant in the room is out of the way, I can tell you what I enjoyed this weekend. First, the hugs. Thank you to those who provided or accepted them. I had a chance to see a few friends that I see regularly and a few that I hadn’t seen in a while. A convention is also a chance to network with other geeky people. I had a chance to meet the organizer for ICON, a gaming convention that happens in eastern Idaho three times a year (once in Pocatello and twice in Idaho Falls). I’m giving some thought to possibly volunteering to GM some RPG one-shots at this event in the future. But there is more logistics that will have to be put into place before I can commit to it.
The game swap room was moved to a larger location which was very nice. Usually it’s stuck in a narrow room where the attendees are shoulder-to-shoulder as they try to look over the selections. I liked the additional room much more and I hope that we can keep this at the new location. I’d like to thank those who brought in roleplaying books. I was able to pick up the Creature Codex and the Tome of Beasts at a decent price. From the photo above you can also see that the free boardgame was something called Tiffin (which I honestly picked up because it was the smallest game to grab). As my thank you gift for GMing at the con, I picked up a $20 gift certificate to The Queen’s Realm. The convention t-shirt is blue with a pirate crab and a pirate parrot playing cards with the caption “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.” My geek wife liked mine so much that she asked me to pick her up one as well.
An interesting twist this year is that a collectable card event was happening in the same convention center on Saturday. I walked through it since it was free. But I didn’t pick up anything since it was mostly Pokemon and sports cards. A nice thing about having that part of the convention center open was the better food options were available within. I wonder if this event will happen again at the same time next summer?
Mini-posters the convention used to advertise my games.
As for the games that I played, Everyday Heroes was a time-travel adventure where we had to prevent Professor Moriarty from messing with time by preventing the Titanic from not being sunk. We were only able to get through one scenario since we had to create characters from scratch. But I was a pirate from the 1800’s which helped with the naval theme. Since one of my games didn’t ‘fire’, I ended up jumping into my first ever HeroQuest game, which was interesting. It was a cross between an RPG and a board game. The Savage Worlds one-shot was also fun. Apparently it was for a sci-fi setting that had just been released called the Han Cluster. It was ‘technology is magic’ based and was an interesting challenge. I had forgotten that I had already played Savage Worlds previously (and it was from the same GM). But it was good to be reminded about the system. Lorecraft 5e was very different. It was a homebrewed game that took Fifth Edition and added some additional items to it. Which explains why I wasn’t able to find anything for it online. But the GM/designer put a lot of work into it. The character sheet alone was a laminated folder with character and equipment card slots. You would write on any side with a dry-erase marker and included a booklet for additional abilities and equipment slots (see photos below since he let all players keep their characters for possible future gaming sessions). He had an interesting lazy-susan grid-playing field where he could put on our figures and terrain (all held with magnets). He could spin the playing field around to move characters or point things out. What I really appreciated with this GM was the way he handled two young RPGers (possibly 14 years old) at the table who attended all seven of his events that were all linked together. They were really getting into the system and their characters. When he cornered me after the session I played in he really wanted to ask me some feedback questions about his works. I let him know the encouraging things that I saw in the game. I didn’t really see any improvements he needed to make, but perhaps I could have noticed something if I had played in other sessions.
The back of the Lorecraft 5e character folder.
The front facing the other players and GM.
Again, if you are looking for a good gaming convention, please check out SaltCON. There are a ton of board games, card games, roleplaying games and more. The next two conventions at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, Utah are September 4-6 and March 11-14. I thinking of making a homebrew game for the Spring 2027 event.
Do you have any questions about the convention weekend? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of June 1st through June 7th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
“Then I met you… and the others—Sisko, Dax, even Quark. And now… when I hear one of you call me “Odo” I no longer think of myself as nothing. I think of myself as me.” Odo- Heart of Stone, Stardate: 48521.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Captain Archer, it’s that you don’t give in to people like this. You’re only going to encourage more attacks, not just against you, but other cargo ships.” Mayweather- Horizon, Date: January 10, 2153 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
“Doctor, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Spock- Star Trek: Into Darkness, Stardate: 2259.55 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
June 3: “They are inquisitive. They wonder how you would endure.” Klag “Endure what?” Riker “Them.” Klag (Riker looks at the Klingon women) “One, or both?” Riker- A Matter of Honor, Stardate: 42506.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“Jim Kirk was many things, but he was never a boy scout.” Dr. Carol Marcus – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Stardate: 8130.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
June 5: “If you’re going to be a starship officer, you’ve got to accept that adversity comes with the job.” Kim- Nightingale, Stardate: 54274.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
“You know when I dreamed about being stuck on a deserted planet with a gorgeous woman there was no torpedo.” McCoy- Star Trek: Into Darkness, Stardate: 2259.55 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Some of the games that I’ll be running at SaltCON-Summer 2026.
Holy cow. It has been so busy for me that summer sneaked up on me. In a few days it will be time to geek out with my fellow RPGers at SaltCON-Summer at the Davis Conference Center.
I volunteered to run three different games this round. I signed up for three games so far, but I’m keeping this year pretty flexible and I may sign up for some games on the spot. I will also be packing my Convention Backpack that I have documented about in a previous blog post.
I’m really excited about my Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition one-shot since I’m running something special. I can’t really talk about it until certain things have passed. But the players in my upcoming STA2e campaign will also get to experience it as well. I will be running Basic Fantasy 4th Edition on Friday and on Saturday I’ll get a chance to run a game that I got as part of a Secret Satan gift exchange a long time ago. Mutant Crawl Classics. This last game is my ‘unusual’ entry that I always try to come up with. It makes the conventions unique by allowing others to participate in a game that they might not normally get a chance to play.
As mentioned above, I’ve signed up for three games. The first being Everyday Heroes that a friend is running. Yes, I ran it at the 2026 Spring SaltCON, but I want to actually play to see how it looks from the other side of the GMs screen. I’m going to get a chance to play a sci-fi Savage Worlds one-shot. The third game is something called LoreCraft 5E. From the description, it sounds like a sci-fi/fantasy combo that may or may not be like Spelljammer. I haven’t been able to find out anything from it from an online search so I’ll have to report back later.
Once again I’d like to give a tip of the hat to the volunteers and coordinators for SaltCON. I hope you realize how much these events are helping me out this year. I’m looking forward to leaving the real world behind when I enter the convention center doors. I’ll see you there. If you are coming to the convention, please come up and say Hi. I’ve met a few readers of this blog face-to-face at this event.
What should I be on the look out for? Any recommendations for the games I’m going to be playing? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.
When my readers realize that I’ve moved this post from Monday to Saturday.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of May 25th through May 31st. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
May 25: “I won’t forget. I won’t forget any of you.” Dr. Crusher- Remember Me, Stardate: 44161.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
May 26: “I’m a doctor, not an escalator.” Dr. McCoy- Friday’s Child, Stardate: 3497.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
May 27: “There are times when perfection hinders efficiency.” Tuvok- Equinox, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
May 28: “Do you remember I told you about a Federation?” Daniels “What about it?” Archer “I work with some people who are going to be pretty angry with me for telling you this, but you’re going to be an integral part of forming that Federation.” Daniels- Zero Hour, Date: February 14, 2154 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
May 29: “We have enough problems on the home planet. We don’t wish to divert resources to such a trivial war.” Kell “You’re prepared to grant them independence?” Picard “Perhaps. We’ll conquer them again later, if we wish.” Kell- The Mind’s Eye, Stardate: 44885.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“I need my little girl to wake up in the morning and look at me and see a man she can respect.” O’Brien- Tribunal, Stardate: 47944.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
May 31: “Raising my voice back there doesn’t mean I was scared or couldn’t do my job. It means I happen to have a human thing called an adrenaline gland.” Bailey- The Corbomite Maneuver, Stardate: 1512.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of May 18th through May 24th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
May 18: “When I have plucked the rose, I cannot give it vital growth again It needs must wither.” Picard- Menage A Troi, Stardate: 43930.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
May 19: “I am no longer Borg…but the prospect of becoming Human is–unsettling. I don’t know where I belong.” Seven “You belong with us.” Janeway- Hope and Fear, Stardate: 51978.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
“Thank you for alerting me. I may have misjudged you.” Nhan “Making things right is a process.” Booker- Erigah, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDSC #IDIC #Quote
May 22: “I’ve got a ship up there somewhere, responsibility for four lives here, one of them dying because of me.” Kirk “It isn’t your fault.” Dr. McCoy “I’m in command, Bones. It makes it my fault.” Kirk- Metamorphosis, Stardate: 3219.8 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
May 23: “I wouldn’t be much of a doctor if I gave up on a patient, would I?” Dr. Bashir- The Quickening, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
“Before we can care for others, we must care for ourselves.” Saru- New Eden, Stardate: 1027.32 #StarTrek #StarTrekDSC #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
No, you have nothing to fear from all these new data centers and rise of “Artificial Intelligence”.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of May 11th through May 17th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
May 11: “Sometimes, Number One, you just have to bow to the absurd.” Picard- Up the Long Ladder, Stardate: 42823.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
May 12: Happy Birthday to Jennifer Hetrick. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jennifer_Hetrick #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
“As an archaeologist, I’ve spent half my life sleeping in tents. To me, any bed will be a luxury.” Vash- Q-Less, Stardate: 46531.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
May 13: “I’m a doctor, not a zoo-keeper.” The Doctor- Life Line, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
May 14: “Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe we’re getting a bit too comfortable with losing people. Twenty three men and women. On any given mission the limits of acceptable casualties is twenty percent. So says traditional military doctrine. Well, we’ve crossed that margin.” Reed- The Council, Date: February 12, 2154 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
May 15: “I will not repeat his lies.” Kurak “Were they lies?” Dr. Crusher “Be careful, Doctor. Insulting the honor of a Klingon can be extremely dangerous.” Kurak- Suspicions, Stardate: 46830.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“I have no idea what I’m supposed to do! I only know what I can do!” Kirk- Star Trek: Into Darkness, Stardate: 2259.55 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
“You have to expect the unexpected in my field. Because, before the right answer, we often find the wrong one. But the wrong one can lead us to entirely new discoveries.” Rok-Tahk- A Tribble Called Quest, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekPRO #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of May 4th through May 10th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
May 4: “They are the most unusual Humans I have ever encountered.” Data “Well, from what I’ve seen of our guests, there’s not much to redeem them. Makes one wonder how our species survived the 21st century.” Riker- The Neutral Zone, Stardate: 41986.0 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“Have you had dealings with the Tal Shiar before?” Vup “To be honest, I’ve tried hard to stay out of their way. They are treacherous, violent, ruthless and subtle. Their concept of honor is rooted in their skill at deceit.” Rios- Stardust City Rag, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekPIC #IDIC #Quote
“Even in space, growth, sometimes remarkable growth, is possible.” Pike- Strange New Worlds, Stardate: 1739.12 #StarTrek #StarTrekSNW #IDIC #Quote
May 6: “Each of you is going to have to live with this. And I’m sorry for that. For you are all good, good people. My colleagues. My friends. I forgive you.” Tuvix- Tuvix, Stardate: 49655.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
May 7: “Having endured a catastrophic World War, Earth’s governments came to this city for the purpose of creating a just and lasting peace among nations. Today, we have assembled here again, representatives of numerous worlds, to forge an unprecedented alliance” Samuels- Demons, Date: January 19, 2155 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
“Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence.” Dr. McCoy- Star Trek (2009), Stardate: 2233.04 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
May 9: “I honor Data’s memory, as I did Lieutenant Yar, by performing their duties as they did.” Worf “In true Klingon fashion.” Troi- The Most Toys, Stardate: 43872.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
May 10: “May we never find space so vast, planets so cold, heart and mind so empty that, that we cannot fill them with love and warmth.” Adams- Dagger of the Mind, Stardate: 2715.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of April 27th through May 3rd. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
April 27 “The fact that my internal arrangement differs from yours, doctor, pleases me no end.” Spock- Mudd’s Women, Stardate: 1329.8 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
April 28 “There is something of us in each of you and, so, something of you in each other.” Ancient Humanoid- The Chase, Stardate: 46731.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“Ever hear the tale of the Good Shepherd? If even one sheep strayed into the wilderness, the shepherd left the safety of the flock and went after it.” Janeway- Good Shepherd, Stardate: 53753.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
April 30 “The social and military hierarchy of a Klingon vessel’s very strictly enforced. A subordinate can only challenge his direct superior and only under certain conditions.” Dax- Soldiers of the Empire, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
May 1 “So you mean I’m drunk! I feel strange, but also good.” Wesley “Because…! Because you have lost the capacity for self-judgment. Now alcohol does this, Wesley.” Picard- The Naked Now, Stardate: 41209.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
May 2 “We’re in bad shape – I can’t deny that, but we’re still in one piece. Enterprise is a tough ship. She took more than anyone could ask her to and then some.” Archer- The Forgotten, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekEnt #IDIC #Quote
May 3 “I got the biggest in the world. You know, there’s one thing wrong with having the biggest. There’s always some punk trying to cut you out.” Okmyx- A Piece of the Action, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
When I realized that I would have both books in my physical possession about the same time, I elected to review both in one blog post. As mentioned previously, if you buy a physical book from Modiphius on their website, they send you the PDF immediately. If you buy a deadtree version from another source, you can still send them a photo to Support@Modiphius.com and they will send you the PDF as soon as they have processed the ticket. This is usually done in a couple of business days and is very much appreciated.
The cover to the STA2e Exploration Guide.
As mentioned above, the Exploration Guide was released by Modiphius in 2025. This hardbound book has 144 pages and includes a two sided poster map for the 23rd and 24th century (see photo below). These same maps are on the front and back interior covers. The ISBN number is 9-781802-812749 and the product number is MUH0142514. Inside on the credits you’ll find names such as Nathan Dowdell (system designer), Jim Johnson (Many hats including Project Manager). I’ve noticed that there are more writers and artists in the credits for these books than there was for the STA2e Technical Manual. These writers include Eric Campbell, Marieke Cross, Michael Dismuke, Nathan Dowdell, AJ Fox, Jim Johnson, Aaron M. Pollyea and Al Spader. The cover artist was Rodrigo Gonzalez Toledo (who also did the cover for the Technical Manual) with interior art by Erin Arik, Marc Bell, Carlos Cabrera, Andrew Clark, Elena Conte, Albert Cordero, Enoch Driscoll, Aurea Freniere, Toma Fiezo Gas (kewl name BTW), Andrew Jarvis, Vincent Laik, David Metlesits, Wayne Miller, Berenice Buniz, Dat Phan, Paolo Puggoioni, Armin Rangani, Vadim Sadovsky, Nicola Sivani, John Teska, Rodrigo Gonzalez Toledo, Angelos Vadeiros and CBS Studios. Someday I hope to see my kid with the art degree from the University of Utah in one of these credits.
A photo of the map with the Exploration Guide.
The contents of the book include an introduction and five chapters. These includes Supplemental Game Mechanics, Sector Generation, Star and System Generation, Planet Creation and Planetary Biomes. In the back of the book there is both an Index and a List of Tables. There are a lot of tables in this book which makes me happy. We also have flowcharts (with page numbers) that are similar to those in the STA2e Core Rulebook which made it soooooo much easier to read as compared to 1st edition. Proof that Modiphus listens to the fans of the game that provided them with feedback.
A partial sample of one of a flowchart found in the book.
The Independent Archeologist and Outpost Scientist (both of which we see a lot in Trek) are two new career paths that are available for characters. I had to giggle at one of the value suggestions for the archeologist that sounds like it could have been said by a man with a fedora and whip. There are also several possible career events and an interesting sidebar on the Officer Exchange program. A handful of new talents are also listed for players to use that fit the theme of this book. But one very interesting addition to the character creation is the Secret. This could be a secret value, trait or talent and would need to be coordinated between GM and player. New awards and honors are also provided for use by the GM. Now exploring is about observing and becoming aware of unknown things. There is an entire sub-chapter about how the different player attributes and departments can be used in spotting or revealing items during play. This is good as I’ve wondered about this in some of my past one-shots. The use of Challenges and Extended Tasks in exploration is also presented.
As noted in past reviews, I love how Star Trek quotes were utilized to give the book some flavor. Well this book also includes quotes from notable scientists. This made me smile. When talking about the various biomes that are present on the different worlds, the writers elected to provide a list of Star Trek episodes that matched those biomes. I will say that I was confused by The City on the Edge of Forever being recommended for the Forest biome or The Crossing for the Water biome. Various story seeds are also provided for each biome which may assist some GMs in planning out their adventures. I wonder what the pilot of the runabout was thinking in that image on page 119?
The back cover to the Exploration Guide.
The cover to the Species Sourcebook.
Currently the latest publication for STA2e is the Species Sourcebook. While the Exploration guide was a book primarily for GMs to create those strange new worlds, this book is the new life and new civilizations that can be used as possible player characters. Sixty new alien templates are made available in this book with entries from The Original Series all the way to Section 31. There are some species that may not be considered to the “good guys” available in this book, but that would help if a player wants a character that may be an exile or a cross-breed.
The ISBN number for this hardback book is 9-781802-812183 with a product number of MUH0142601. Inside there are 133 pages. The introduction is found at the start and the index at the end. And while there is only one chapter, there are a LOT of sidebars for different chapters species and talents (such as shapeshifting, breathing apparatus requirements or something from the IDW Star Trek comics). After all of these are presented, there is a section for GMs on how to create an original species. I can see myself using this for homebrewing from other Trek sources.
The cover for this book was provided by Paolo Puggioni. Some of the additional art credits include the Star Trek Online MMORPG. The talented wordsmiths mentioned above are all present in this publication. When I showed this book to my daughter with the art degree, she pointed out how much she loved the artwork for the Deltan (how the dress flowed over the character) and the Risian (the shading in the clothing that covered the figure and how it made the character stand out without the use of heavy lines.) She spent some time talking with me about the different styles in the book and what worked for her and what didn’t. I really wish I had been smart enough to write it all down or record it.
Don’t take the lack of photos or description on the Species Sourcebook to mean that I loved it any less than the Exploration Guide. Both books filled different niches within the Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition RPG system and were very well thought out. Recently I was able to convince another GM into running 2nd edition as compared to 1st by my past reviews. If anyone is considering running or playing STA2e, I can’t recommend these enough.
I’m already trying to save my Quatloos for the next book. Jim Johnson has been giving hints about it on the Modiphius discord server. So far, my money is on a book based on the medical aspects we’ve seen in the different Star Trek shows. Is my guess the right one? I hope we will find out soon.
And one last thing before I wrap this up. Modiphius has a system set up to report typos in the various books. I found one in the STA2e core rulebook that I submitted to them. And they recently released the latest errata that contained my corrections. I was tickled to see that.
Did you have any questions about the Exploration Guide or the Species Sourcebook for Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition? Ask me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.
